KOSPI +1.67%: foreigners sold, institutions held the floor

Around lunch, KOSPI sits at 6,136.14, +1.67%, and KOSDAQ at 839.57, +0.30%. Compared with my 10:40 note, KOSPI is up another +1.05%p and KOSDAQ +1.49%p. The board changed quite a bit in an hour and a half, and KOSDAQ shaking off its morning stillness is the part I noticed.

Foreigners dumped 4.58 trillion won and the index still climbed

On KOSPI, foreigners were net sellers of 45,789억 won while institutions bought 16,685억. For the index to be +1.67% after that much selling, the buyers on the other side were not pushovers. On KOSDAQ, foreigners (1,339억) and institutions (459억) were both buying, and that pushed it up.

The currency helped too. The won-dollar rate is 1,334.13 (-0.50%) and the dollar index 102.12 (-0.45%), so the dollar is leaning weaker. Last night's US session was basically flat, S&P500 -0.02% and Nasdaq -0.15% (10/13 close), and KOSPI did not inherit that calm; it ran ahead on its own. Energy and staples strong, space and clean energy weak: that was yesterday's US sector tape, and I won't copy it onto today's session.

One remark from the Chicago Fed

At 12:04 the Chicago Fed president said AI-driven inflation is spreading across the economy and warned of overheated demand, with the Fed weighing further tightening after last month's 0.25 percentage point hike. That doesn't point the same way as today's rally, so I'm filing it as an uncomfortable shadow, not the reason for the rise.

On my book, Microsoft +36.9%, Freeport-McMoRan +9.3%, NVIDIA +6.1% and Amazon -9.3% sit where they were. Those are mark-to-market gains and losses, not today's moves.

3 hours 20 minutes remain to the close. First, I'm watching whether the foreign net selling of 45,789억 grows and whether institutions' 16,685억 keeps holding. Second, whether foreigners' 1,339억 net buying on KOSDAQ lasts into the afternoon.